After intense scrutiny of Los Angeles County’s failures in coordinating evacuations during January’s deadly firestorm, the county will look into creating a registry for people with disabilities and other mobility challenges in case of future disasters.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion, brought forward Tuesday by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger, to study a potential registry after the death of 17 in Altadena in January shone a spotlight on L.A. County’s struggle to plan for the evacuation of elderly and disabled people.
A Times analysis found that the median age of those killed was 77, and at least a third of them suffered impairments that could affect their mobility. Times reporting revealed that west Altadena did not get official evacuation alerts until nearly nine hours after the Eaton fire started.
The Times also reported last week that L.A. County did not follow the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services recommendations, less than 16 months before the L.A. County fires, to do more to “adequately address” the emergency planning and evacuation needs of its most vulnerable residents and bring its plan up to speed with California law and “inclusive best practices.”
“When the next disaster hits, we need to be better prepared to evacuate people who cannot evacuate themselves,” Hahn said in a statement. “In an emergency, our first responders should know who our most vulnerable residents are, where they are, and how to reach them when minutes matter and lives are on the line.”
Barger, who represents Altadena, described the motion as a “critical step toward strengthening our preparedness and response efforts.”
“It is devastating to learn that the average age of the 17 lives lost in the Eaton fire was 77 — a tragic reminder of the urgent need to safeguard seniors and people with disabilities during emergency evacuations,” Barger said in a statement. “We have a duty to ensure no one is left behind.”
L.A. County did, until nearly a decade ago, maintain a list of vulnerable residents. But officials scrapped the Specific Needs Awareness Planning database in 2016.
In a 2016 presentation, the county suggested S.N.A.P. was too costly, had “low acceptance by the disability community, obsolete software,” and “limited utilization for emergency planning.”
A court-appointed monitor of L.A County’s planning for the disabled agreed. After a 2009 lawsuit, settled in 2012, the monitor argued in a final 2018 settlement report: “L.A. County’s decision to discontinue SNAP was correct.”
The motion approved Tuesday directed the county Department of Aging and Disabilities to work with the county’s chief executive, Office of Emergency Management, fire chief and sheriff to look into potentially creating a registry that could help emergency responders locate and assist people with disabilities and the elderly with mobility problems in future emergency evacuations.
The Department of Aging and Disabilities will report back to the board in 120 days after engaging representatives from the disability community to better understand the needs of people with mobility challenges and the elderly. It will also assess the potential legal, technological and privacy challenges of a registry and explore other potential solutions, such as a proactive emergency notification program and improved data-sharing protocols across agencies.
“Given the continuing growth of our older adult population and the number of adults living with disabilities in our county, it is critical that we have an array of options for people to be able to plan for their own well-being and safety in an emergency,” L.A. County Director of Aging and Disabilities Laura Trejo said in a statement.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone, who publicly called for a registry for the disabled after the fires at a January county board meeting, said he looked forward to collaborating on the feasibility study to examine best practices.
“The unprecedented community conflagrations in January of 2025 highlighted the critical need for and importance of ensuring the safety and well-being of vulnerable populations during emergencies,” Marrone said in a statement.
This story will be updated.
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